Go speed racer go!

In an effort to provide myself some temporary respite from the reality of my regurgitating children at 1am...thought I'd do some posting!

Forget Hot Wheels & Tonka trucks, G's done gone country with the help of Chuck's cousin Kevin, G's new BFF. Also, turns out Kevin went to school & is friends with Kasey Keller. Needless to say, G was in hog heaven and is now seriously considering a move to Olympia.

My morning with Boy2

I enjoyed a morning out on the town with the wee-est one. (Actually "out on the town" refers to 4 different stops about 10 minutes from my house).


Our morning starting off...at...take.a.wild.guess. where Lukie likes to ride in these carts and I like to dive into the $1 section. And what's better than the dollar section? The SALE DOLLAR SECTION, because there's nothing better than red/white/blue glitter glue pens for 25 cents that I didn't know we needed.

Lukie loves picking out produce. Today he picked out some apricots.

After a lovely walk at the beach, Lukie fell asleep in the car which ordinarily is fine but of course, I had other plans. I tried to keep talking, had the windows down...didn't work. So did I let him sleep or go through with Plan A?


Given that Plan A was fantastic ice cream...I woke him up and as you can see, I'm pretty sure he was glad that I did. This ice cream joint is just minutes away and OMG, fabulous. I had Horchata flavored ice cream, Lukie enjoyed Birthday Cake. I also sampled the Mango Chili and Ube (sweet potato) which were both YUM. I can't believe it took me so long to get to this place!




Ice cream +pinball. Does it get any better? Oh, they have beer on tap as well. And old skool video games, like Pac Man, Frogger and Donkey Kong. I can't wait to go back with the whole fam. Maybe I can find some time to squeeze in a visit tomorrow?!?

And then I spent the rest of day doing what I do every other day, repeatedly ask Lukie to take the cars out of his mouth already.

It was a good day.

My all stars, inspired by Smashmouth

So, the other week Chuck showed me this very cool capella rendition of Smashmouth's "All Star", a song that is very addicting. So I downloaded the song onto my iPod and who knew the song was such a hit with the school-age crowd as well? (Thanks to Shrek, apparently).

We had the pleasure of Xiomara's company for a week and the kids? Um, every time we got in the car they pleaded to hear this song. Over and over again. At one point, I even Googled the lyrics because I wasn't sure what in the heck the kids were actually singing...

Daycation to Bremerton: The road less traveled

With Melle & Karma in town, today we did the obligatory ferry ride BUT decided to mix things up a bit. Instead of heading to Bainbridge, we took the road less traveled and went to Bremerton.

The kids enjoyed the ferry ride but an hour is a bit long. Bainbridge's crossing is only 35 minutes. On the way back L was a bit fussy so I ended walking laps around the ferry in the stroller :)

Karma & Xiomara

Melle

Wind, what wind?

View of Harborside Fountain Park from above

The kids had a fun time swimming around the fountain & we basically had to drag them out of there.

Snack time. Man, do these kids eat! I feel like a walking vending machine. Also? I'm so in love with my $4 Target beach towels.

It's "quiet time" now, next up? A trip down the road to the beach & an outdoor concert at the local park. Yes, I am exhausted...but the kids are having a blast & should sleep well tonight!

Hiking dispatch: Denny Creek sans bridge

Denny Creek, a stand-by favorite. Easy access, short enough (1-mile) so the kids can hike it by themselves but not so short (or flat/ADA-like) that you question the one hour drive. And it's a beauty! Next time I will continue up just another 1/4 of a mile to view some falls that I hear are pretty spectacular.


The highlight for me: Look no bridge! Washed out by all the snow this winter? Not sure, but that's my theory. But we crossed just fine as there are rocks/logs set up that made a nice path.

Here is an image I found on the "Internets" of the bridge. I did try to go another 1/4 of a mile but with the bridge being gone, I was a bit disoriented and couldn't find where the trail continues. Oh well, the kiddos still had a blast!


Pre-hike excitement. G has a sister for a week as Karma's daughter, Xiomara flew up w/Melle for a visit.



Time for playing in the creek! This area is known as the Denny Creek Slide, as the rocks are slippery, perfect for sliding along but hello, that gives me a heart attack plus the water flow is pretty heavy still. So I usually scout out an area I feel ok about and tell the kids where they can play.


Lukie opted for some land based play, demonstrating his Tai Chi skills.


G. Sunbathing. Is he my son, or what?!?!?


Obligatory trail head photo, sporting his new hiking pack. Is it adorable or what? (Um, and if you read the reviews? Yikes, complainers. The bit valve was fine, and the buckles are totally user-friendly, G could snap them no problem. Yes, it is small...it's for a 4-year-old. It's a small pack which is good given G's size [hard to find a pack for him] but big enough it can also carry his jacket and snacks which is all I'm looking for!)

For this hike I bought the annual Forest Pass so as to be cool motivated to do lots of hiking this summer. Hiking with 2 wee ones can be tough since I need to pick hikes that at least G can hike solo...hard to find friends without kids who want to tag along on the hikes and the friends who want to go have their own kids. I definitely did way more hiking when I had just G. Oh well, there's plenty out there to choose from!

Obsessive, that's how I roll

Or, as I like to think of it, "strong parent advocate".

Last night we were surprised to a bit news, G's transfer request to another public school (in the full day K class) was granted. Exhibit A.


We had all but ruled out this option, not that we've made up our minds, but our local parochial school was seeming like the front runner. I have concerns about committing to the tuition (although it's very reasonable) for 2 kids for basically forever.

Checking back on the who-really-cares test scores, the public? Not as impressive as I had recalled- but definitely still in the category of "good schools", especially in our district. And close by (a mere 1-mile!).

Mama needs some divine intervention!!!!

And then I remembered, who needs my Magic 8 Ball at work when I can access one online? So yes, my friends, although my kids will be waking up in 6 hours, I have been consulting my ultimate decision maker, the Magic 8 Ball.

Exhibits B-D:
(Interpreted by me; sorry no I do not have an iPhone with its beautiful camera phone)

Should G go to [public school] : My sources say no


Should G go to [parochial school]: Yes


And just to get this one of out of the way: Should G go to K in the Fall? Definitely. (Screw Outliers, the book I purchased but am afraid to read)

The verdict: The jury is still out.

Happy Birthday Chuck!

With a few minutes left on this, the 28th of June, I wanted to share birthday wishes for Chuck with the Internets. He celebrated with a soiree last night and by attending the Sounders game today.

Can we please discuss this picture?
1. OMG, I had NO IDEA that Lucas looks SO MUCH like Chuck. Sure G has the hair & eyes, but the face? OMG. Who knew?
2. That toy car garage? Circa 1974 or so? It is one of the many items Chuck's mom held onto for all.of.these.years and the boys now play with it, regularly. And it's not like Chuck was the only child or his parents still live in the family home. No, they sold that home pre-me and Chuck is one of six siblings. Impressive, right?

In other news, today also marks our 5th anniversary of home ownership!

AND, late last night...I checked the mail only to discover a letter from our dear 'ol school district informing us that G got into our public school of choice, IN THE FULL DAY K PROGRAM!!!!! So, now we have a new option to mull over. Of course. Because, you know, I enjoy the agony of reliving the as-yet-unresolved K drama on top of the SHOULD HE EVEN GO TO K (boy/summer birthday/blah blah blah) question.

And with this, comes the close of a wonderful weekend.

Uncle Josh

Uncle Josh (& Grandpa Greg) are in town for the weekend, and you know what that means...time for the bad influence...such as teaching G to say "What up dog" and Lukie to sing the Cops theme song (um, nothing is classier than a barely 2-year-old saying "bad boys bad boys" strolling through the aisles of Target...).

Carrying Uncle Josh's beverages

Two peas in a pod, watching cartoons

But on a serious note, I'm happy they are in town, as we will be hitting up the hotel pool in the morning :) In 8.5 hours to be exact, which probably means I should hit the sack!